A wish on a feather
by SasakiKouishi
Summary: An angel arrives in the Hub, and soon, Owen, Tosh and Ianto will have to face a choice: to accept death, or take the new change given to them. Janto & Owen/Tosh.
1. Prologue

_AN: Well, welcome to my take on a Torchwood story, where I keep my favourite characters 'alive', Owen, Tosh and Ianto. The story is not brit-picket and un-betaed, so every mistake is my own._

_Notes:_

_Torchwood: somewhere in second season. Owen is a dead man walking._

_Dr. Who: Somewhere after series four, tenth Doctor and Jenny (found her again somewhere, going to write that story someday). _

_Disclaimer: If Torchwood had been mine, Jack wouldn't have to loos so many loved ones. _

The, for some, familiar sound of the TARDIS materialising, sounded in the Torchwood Hub. Jenny opened the door, finding the Hub empty. She looked around, before walking out, making space for the Doctor.

"Did you get it right this time?" She looked around for an indicator of the time.

"I would think so." The Doctor closed the door to the TARDIS and looked around.

"Through it does look a bit empty."

"Who lives here?" Jenny picked up an abandoned newspaper to check the date.

"An old friend, Jack, works and lives here." The Doctor looked over her shoulder, checking the date as well.

"Should I go find him?" She handled him the newspaper, taking a look around.

"Nah, the noise should have woken him up, he'll be here in a moment." He dropped the paper again, going to the nearest monitor. The Rift Manipulator quickly got his attention, Jenny at his side, always eager to learn.

"Doctor!" The Doctor preyed his attention from the Rift Manipulator to find Jack jogging toward him, to catch him in a hug, before Jack's attention shifted to Jenny.

"Captain Jack Harkness." She looked at him, before taking his hand.

"Jenny." She answered.

"Nice to meet you Jenny..." The casual, flirting smile was in place. She smiled at him, but didn't return the flirting.

"Stop it." For once, there was a bit of an edge in his voice.

"He's just greeting, father." She released his hand again, turning her attention back to the Doctor.

"I'll let you stay in that belief." He answered, pointy ignoring a speechless Jack. Ianto saved him from further embarrasses with a tray of coffee and tea.

Through the next hour the remaining part of the Torchwood Three team came to work one by one. Toshiko was first to appear, and she was delighted to meet the Doctor and they quickly became busy discussing technology with Jenny looking over his shoulder while Jack and Ianto worked. Next in was Owen, whom after greeting the others and the Doctor went directly to the autopsy bay, after inhaling a cup of coffee. Ianto had been around with the coffee tray before Gwen finally arrived, muting something about traffic and Rhys. The morning quickly went by with chatting and a few questions about some of the alien technology they had found, but didn't know off, until Owen finally asked the question which had been hanging unasked in the air the entire morning:

"Are you here to take Jack with you again?" The Doctor looked up from the screen he had been staring at.

"No, we're here to recharge the TARDIS. And to deliverer someone..." Remembering something, he rose from his seat in a chair heading toward the Tardis.

"Forgot her in the TARDIS?" Jenny asked, but didn't get an answer before he disappeared into the box.

"Forgot who?" asked Gwen, whom was sitting nearby. Jenny turned to her, smiling.

"An angel." At the same moment the doors to the TARDIS opened, revealing The Doctor and a woman with wings so big they couldn't help scraping against the doorway, even though she ducked down quite a bit while walking through. She didn't look at either of them, but instantly turned her attention to her wings. Jenny was smirking, Owen was gapped while Toshiko and Gwen staring, Jack was stunted while Ianto as the only one managed to keep a blank face. Once in a while Jack had to wonder what that man had seen in his life; nothing seemed to surprise him anymore. Ianto quickly studied the angel in front of him. The woman was approximately 1.7 meter including the heels on her boots. Her wings were three-parted, exactly like the most birds and seemed to have base between the shoulder blades. The inner part seemed to be the shortest, only about half a meter long based on what he could see, facing downwards, the middle part went up past her head with about half a meter to spare, and the last ended in the fine feathers which lightly was touching the floor in the Hub. Her Cloth was a mix of gray, black and red, gray boots, a black skirt and a red shirt. Her wings were... was that a light blue? He wasn't entirely sure, since they seemed to shimmer in a mix of different colours. She looked at the rest of the people in the Hub now, eyes running over them all, evaluating them, judging them and finally, she smiled at them.

"Jack you old fox, I expected you to run down here and greet me. Did you find something new to fill your interest? You did, didn't you? Oh no you didn't, you really did? I never expected that to happen. Even an old fox like you can do that?" She smiled at him, while walking up the stairs talking, her wings lightly touching the stairs, caressing everything on its way, making it seem somewhat cleaner, a bit more pure. She walked to him, reaching out, laying her hands on his shoulder.

"Well congratulation old fox." She leaned in and kissed him, just a short peak on the lips. He smiled at her, but he didn't flirt for once, just grabbed her shoulders, turning around and only narrowly avoided being knocked down by her wings.

"Lily, allow me to introduce you to Ianto Jones, my partner. Ianto, this is Lily, an old friend of mine." Lily smiled at Ianto, before walking to him, giving him a quick hug before turning her attention back to Jack.

"What about the rest of your team?" She walked back to the railing, standing next to Jenny.

"This is Doctor Owen Harper, technical expert Toshiko Sato and former police officer, Gwen Cooper." Jack pointed each of them out. Owen nodded at her, Toshiko smiled and Gwen waved at her.

"Team, this is Lily, an old friend of my."

"An old flirt?" Owen smirked, looking at Ianto for a reaction, but it was futile; Ianto's expression was as blank as ever.

"No. I wouldn't understand it if he tried." She took a grab on the railing, and swung up, sitting on the railing, easily keeping her balance.

"Why?" It was Gwen asking this time, keeping a sceptical eye on Lily and Jack.

"It's a long story, long and maybe even a bit confusing; and I didn't come here for storytelling." She turned around on the railing, facing Jack again.

"I need you and your teams help, Jack."

"What happened?" All the while they were talking; the Doctor was silently sneaking toward his TARDIS. Lily didn't mind it, but she took a hold in Jenny, whom despite her military training, didn't react to it, laying a hand on her shoulder, which still was standing by her side.

"I collided with the TARDIS while travelling from Rakelion to Earth." Jack couldn't help but bust into laugher. He had met her travelling in space before, she had for habit of knocking on the door to the TARDIS, and any other spaceship with people she knew whenever she saw it, but he hadn't heard of her colliding with her before.

"I'm not sure why it could happen, through I have my suspicion." She said, eyeing the Doctor.

"I lost a feather in the collision, and it fell to Earth. I don't know when or where it happened, but I can feel it in this timeline. It's here somewhere, in Cardiff, but I can't tell exactly where." Jack went from laughing to shock in a matter of milliseconds; he briefly glared at the Doctor before returning his gaze to her.

"It's not his fault; I'm keeping him here to get his help." She released her grip in Jenny to take hold in the railing instead.

"Why do you need our help when it's just a feather?" Gwen's voice sounded below her. Lily turned around on the railing again in a swift motion. She leaned forward, her elbows in her knees, feet resting on the lower railing.

"Gwen, do you believe in magic?" Gwen answered promptly:

"No." Lily looked at Toshiko, then at Owen.

"How about the two of you, do you believe in magic?"

"No." Owen answered, hesitating. Toshiko hesitated a bit, looking down at the keyboard in front of her.

"Toshiko?" Lily pressed a bit. She looked up, light doubt clear in her face.

"The things we see at a daily basis; I've seen so much the past few years, been surprised so often, I started to doubt whether magic exists. My logic answers with a clear no, but deep inside, I only doubt it." Lily smiled at Toshiko and jumped down, gracefully landing at the floor a few meters down. She went walked to Toshiko, taking her hand but still keeping her distance, not standing to close.

"Thank you, Toshiko. Please, describe me." Toshiko was shocked and surprised at once at Lily's actions. Her hand in hers was warm and soft and somehow comforting, making her relax. She felt an inner comfort, resembling the feeling after a good, long bath in the bathtub in streaming hot water after a long day. But her head was still clear, and she answered after a few second.

"You have long, dark brown hair and green eyes, pale skin, enormous wings in a pale, red shade, darkening near your back, pale at the tips." Lily learned forward, kissing her. When they parted again, she had changed to Toshiko's surprise, but before she could say anything, Lily laid a finger on her lips, silencing her. She gave her a quick peak on the chin, before she released her, walking to Owen. As Lily released Toshiko's hand, a bit of the relaxing feeling disappeared, but she still felt at peace, calmed, relaxed.

"Tosh. I'm called Tosh by friends." She said before even thinking about it. Lily turned around, giving her a smile, before turning around again, standing in front of Owen. Tosh studied the new Lily for a second. The former long brown hair was now even longer but silver with strains of every shade of gray, from almost black to almost white, instead of brown. Her eyes were a shining silver with ring of gold around the pupil, but still warm. Her wings was silver at the base, the colour fading until it was a pure white at the tips of the wings. She watched as Lily apposed Owen.

"Owen, what do you see?" She didn't take his hand; she just stood in front of him. He didn't answer her at first, just staring back at her, so she began to study him. He was quite handsome, but something seemed wrong about him, something she hadn't seemed in ages. Realising, she didn't gasp or turned away, she smiled a slightly sad smile before reaching out, laying a hand over his heart, feeling its stillness and the cold of his body. When she touched him, he surprised took a step backwards, backing into the railing at the autopsy bay. She didn't follow him, but let her hand fall.

"Owen?" It was Jack, worried before he realised what had happened.

"You can feel her touch." It wasn't a question but a statement. He remembered the first time he had felt it, the touch a dead man shouldn't be able to feel.

"Yeah." Owen nodded, still surprised.

"You're dead." Lily said, not really surprised, but curious.

"How? When? Why are you still walking?" She took a step forward, laying a hand on his chest again. He gasped again, but she didn't let go, determined to learn more. She read the past of his body, felt him being shot, seeing his resuscitation. Removing her hand, she turned to face Jack while managing to hit Owen quite hard with her wings, making him fall to the floor. She quickly turned to face him again, Jack, who had approached them, managed to escape being hit by her wings when she turned.

"I'm sorry, but this place really isn't build for people with wings. Did you get hurt?" Taking his hand, she helped him up again much to his dislike. He couldn't get used to actually feeling his body again; the feeling was so strong after going without. Taking his silence for an answer, she turned to face Jack, careful not to hit Owen again.

"What were those gloves doing here? When did that happen?" She didn't like the idea of those gloves being in the human world, they could do far too much damage in this world.

"They should have been destroyed ages ago." She mumbled.

"We don't know. What are they? You seem to know them." She stared at ham, openly stared.

"You didn't know, and yet you used them? Do you know the damage they can do in the wrong hands? Wait, yes you do, you've seen it, and Owen is feeling the aftershock of it." She sighed she couldn't help herself. She knew humans could be reckless, and Jack could be worse than them, but she had thought this was beyond him.

"What are they?" He asked again.

"It's a tool for learning to concentrate and use your, our, energy. It's harmless in my hands, it's just old-fashioned and without limits, but otherwise harmless in the right hands. They are not meant for resurrection, it's a toy and tool." She turned to face Owen.

"Because of its reckless being used, death himself managed to enter this world again, taking the life from so many people. All that energy is now harboured in you, Owen, but because death doesn't need to feel, neither can you." She took his hands, looking at the injuries in them.

"I can't do anything about the feelings, but I can at least do something about the physical damage." She laid her hands over his, letting her fingers trace the wounds and broken bones, healing them on its path. She leaned forward, kissing him, letting him feel it again. They parted, and she looked back to his now healed hands.

"My appearance didn't chance, did it?" She asked.

"No." He studied his hands, feeling a weak tingling in them, which quickly disappeared again.

"Thought so, really can't fool the death." She smiled sadly, before walking to Gwen. She didn't bother asking her for details, just gave her a quick peak on the lips, before walking up the stairs to Ianto. She took his hands, studying them a bit before leaning in and kissing him a bit longer then necessary, much to Jack's dislike. Parting with him, she sat back on the railing.

"Why did you do that? Kiss us all." Owen asked. He hadn't mind being kissed, but he couldn't see the reason for it. Being quite for too long, the Doctor took the word before Lily could get to answer.

"Good question, interesting stuff actually. Her specie admits a force field around their individual body, strong enough to keep anything from getting near them, if they don't want it. It's quite fascinating how someone can keep themselves safe that way, emitting the strongest force field ever seen, and hiding behind the strongest shields possible. It's needed for travelling in time and space, but otherwise it couldn't be needed..." He could have rampaged on for centuries, but a glaze from Lily stopped him, getting him back on track.

"The force field keep their true form hidden, making them blend in with the species on the planets they visit. Jenny told you we had an angel aboard, so you all saw an angel, but her form, face, hair, eyes, everything, was based on what you yourself believed. When she kissed you, she revelled herself to you."

"Some just have to allow the persons to see them, some need to touch, and I have to kiss the person on the lips for it to work." Lily was starting to get a bit impatient, so she butted in.

"I really need to find my feather. There are other angels in Cardiff and some of them would do almost anything to get to it." She stood up on the railing, walking back and forth on it.

"But what was it about magic?" Lily stopped and slowly turned around on her heels, still on the railing. Through the railing was just a round metal pipe, she had no difficulties walking and standing on it. She looked down at Gwen, anything but amused.

"You didn't get it? What I do seems like magic to anyone whom doesn't understand it. Magic doesn't exist, but everything magic is about, is a trick of the eye." She sighed, turning back to Jack.

"I need your help, Jack. Can you help me? Will you help me?" She looked directly at him, waiting for an answer. He flasher her a genius smile.

"Relax, with a man like me to help, how can it possible go wrong?" Sitting down on the railing again, she answered.

"I am not going to answer that." She jumped down from the railing and walked down to Tosh and her computer.

"I need you to search for past activates, not necessary rift activates, but something that emit a tiny little bit of constant energy, which rise and fall with the energy around it." Tosh turned to her computers, typing on the computer at nearly lightning speed, Lily looking over her shoulder, waiting while the computer searched for a few minutes, before coming up with a result.

"There have been no abnormal unexplained activates since we started scanning, but there has been a constant background energy flow in the area around the hub we normally have ignore, assuming it came from an alien item in our procession. Could it be among them?" Tosh turned her head, looking at Lily, whom almost was touching her while looking over her shoulder.

"It's highly possible, and a rather comforting thought. Jack, do you know the contents of all the items in Torchwoods possession?" Jack, standing at the railing lightly chatting to Jenny, while the Doctor was looking around at the autopsy bay with Owen, looked at her.

"There are no feathers in our procession, but we have multiple other objects you could have a look at."

"That can wait." She walked to the railing down to the autopsy bay.

"Doctor, I need your help. Can the TARDIS, the dear old girl, trace it through time?" Slipping on his glasses, he thought about it for a few nanoseconds.

"Yes, but I will need to get into your telepathic field and a stronger energy force then the Rift or the TARDIS herself to do it."

"I thought the TARDIS could almost anything." Jenny leaned over the railing, looking down at the TARDIS.

"Oh yes, she can." Lily turned around and walked to the Tardis, reaching out and slowly caressed the wood.

"The problem lies in the little word; almost. Each angel's force field and energy spectrum is a tiny little bit different, it's programmed into our DNA and soul, our very being. It'll use quite a bit of energy and time for the Tardis to make an identical field and spectrum and use it to find the feather. It'll be easier for her to work as an enhancer, enhancing my own signals." She stepped into the Tardis, soon to be followed by the Doctor and Jenny.

"How do we do it?"

"There are two possibilities: I take a direct chat with the Time Vortex in the heart of the TARDIS, or your father does something extremely clever with that genius brain of his to make a telepathic and physical link between me and the TARDIS, but for that to happen, we have to wait for him to get out of the cloud he's in right now from being praised."

They had to wait half an hour before the Doctor had collected the necessarily tools and wires, time Jenny and Lily spend talking. Even though they had arrived in Cardiff together, they had not got the opportunity to talk earlier. When Lily had entered the TARDIS after their crash in the Vortex, she had scrolled the Doctor a bit, mostly just light teasing, before announcing their trip to Cardiff and walking off, complaining about rustled feathers and the need for a bath. Jenny, the ever-so-ready soldier; had been shocked when the door to the TARDIS had opened mid-flight, revelling what had looked like overgrown eagle with ruffled feathers, long hair hanging anything but graceful, entangled in wings and cloth.

Lily had been more than a little surprised when she collided with the TARDIS, and the surprise had only grown, when she had felt the presence of yet another Time Lord. She had never expected to find the Doctor with a daughter and an even so young one. It had taken a bit of questioning to understand it, but luckily Jenny didn't mind answering, she had just as many questions herself. Now they sat in the Hub, watching the Doctor working while talking. Jack had provided them with chairs, and was now off somewhere else and no one really wanted to know what he was doing.

"So, who is oldest? When did you meet? Where did you meet?" Lily couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Relax; we have all the time in the world, one question at the time young one." Jenny pouted a bit, but nodded.

"I meet your father while he was still just a kid, only eighty years old, a teenager, and a vivid one. We met at Gallifrey, only once, he was out walking on the hillsides and so was I. He was quite surprised to see a non-Gallifreyan. We talked a bit, not much, before we went our separate ways. We met again years later at a marked on Women Wept. We've meet multiple times since then, even travelled together in short periods of time." She looked at the Doctor while he worked, trusting him in his work, but she still liked keeping an eye on him.

"How old were you back then?" She shifted her gaze to look at Jenny instead.

"You really want to know? I honestly don't remember. Oh I was old enough to have had grandchildren, great-grandchildren even, if I had been interested. I'm so much older than your father that neither of us know exactly how old."

"What were you doing at Gallifrey?" Lily thought about it for a few seconds, remembering that trip.

"Collecting some things, I think. Yes, I took a walk to collect some materials in the hillside after a meeting with someone. It's all a bit blurry right now; it's some quite old memories." Lily was glad Jenny still was so young and inexperienced in sensing mental shields and small white lies, but she was sure her father had realised something was a bit off, but he hadn't commented. Maybe he was waiting for later?

"Will you come travelling with us?" Jenny looked eagerly at Lily.

"Hmm?" Lily, whom had been inspecting the roof of the hub, turned to look at Jenny, her feathers rustling a bit, gently nudging Tosh, whom was walking by behind them.

"Please. Could you come?" Lily had to admit she was a bit thrown; she hadn't expected Jenny to want her to travel with them as well.

"Jenny, how long have you been travelling with your father?" Jenny blinked, puzzled.

"Fifty-six days."

"Fifty-six days? Sweetie, you've barely gotten to know your father then, let alone the TARDIS." She took Jennys hands in her own, feeling the soft skin of the young girl.

"Wouldn't you want to keep those for yourself for a bit longer? Take your time to get to know them. I can come travel with you at any time, there's no need to hurry; I'm no human. I'll come knocking at the door when I think the time's ready"

"But how will you know when time's ready?"

"The TARDIS will tell her." The Doctor had without their knowledge left his work in, and in front of, the TARDIS, and now stood in front of them.

"For the TRDIS to enhance Lily's signals, they will be in need of a telepathic link which can't be broken again. The link will stay and Lily will know where we are and when, and the TARDIS will be able to call for her, if she seems the need for it."

"Are you done with the work?" Lily rose from her seat, stretching like a cat in the morning.

"Yes, the rest is up to the TARDIS herself and you." The Doctor stepped aside, taking the seat next to his daughter while Lily went to the TARDIS, stopping on the threshold.

"Doctor, please shield everybody, I wouldn't want to harm anyone." She said and stepped inside, closing the door as well as she could, without harming the wires which connected the TARDIS with nothing, yet.

Just moments later, the air sang of thousands, millions, billions even, of thought waves being released and crashing against the walls and roof of the Hub, making the air quiver, the walls sing and multiple alarms go off, causing an deafening noise, which only were amplified again by the thought waves.

"What's happening?" Gwen tried to block out some of the noise by holding her hands over her ears, but equally helped it, the noise easily penetrated through her skull and into her brain.

"It's the sound of an open mind." The Doctor hasn't moved from his seat next to Jenny, easily cancelling out the thought waves around him, while keeping the majority of waves shielded away from everybody.

In a matter of seconds, the quivering and noise stopped and the air filled with a soft melody, a humming without song, slow and steady bearing thoughts of life and growth.

The door to the TARDIS opened again, revealing a flushed Lily leaning on the threshold.

"Wow." Lily sighed, slightly dazed, her white eyes shimmering silver, slightly glowing even in the light of the Hub.

"I should do that again someday. That was delicious. All that time flowing though me. She really has much to say, do you ever let her talk?" She tidied herself up a bit again while talking, constantly keeping a hand at the TARDIS for support.

"You know she's not constructed to that."

"Yeah... Too bad really, she has so much to tell." Finishing tiding, she looked at the Doctor.

"How much time passed? It felt like hours to me, but it seems like less out here." Still slightly flushed and dazed, she sat down, leaning on to the TARDIS.

"Less than a minute passed by…"

"Really? It felt like hours to me." She looked up from the floor, eyes white again. Supporting herself against the TARDIS, she rose from the floor again. Taking a deep breath, she stepped away from the TARDIS, secure on her legs again.

"You're ready?" The Doctor raised from his seat, grapping the wires on the floor.

"Oh yes, hook me up." She turned his back to him, illustrating him in which feathers to attach the wires to. When done, she turned back to the Torchwood Three team.

"Okay, now I'm going to need your help, if you're willing to?" she asked, looking around on each of them, receiving nods and small muted affirmations.

"Thanks. What's the avenged hearing of a human? I have to make the sound hear able for you guys to find it."

"A human can hear between 5-20.000 Hz." The ever knowing Ianto answered.

"Okay, going for something in the middle then." She closed her eyes, focusing her energy in her wings, causing them to glow and shiver, emitting a low key signal for the lone feather to sing. For minutes, nothing happened. Nobody could hear anything besides their own breathing.

"Lily, there's nothing." Gwen dumped down in her chair; she has expected something slightly more exciting to happen then a silent Hub, a very silent Hub actually, way to silent. There were no sound, not even the computers could be heard. Tosh was the first to react, silently walking to Lily.

"Lily?" She reached out, touching her hand to get her attention, but quickly pulled back.

"Tosh?" It was Owen, coming up from the autopsy bay.

"She cold. Her skin is cold and hard as stone." Tosh reached out again, confirming her first impression.

"Don't touch her." The Doctor stepped in, removing Toshs hand.

"She's concentrating her energy at that one feather, leaving her body unprotected." Releasing Toshs hand, he turned her attention to Lily.

"It's a diamond skin; impenetrable for any sort of sensation. As a defence, it'll absorb anything touching it, including life energy. She's leaving her body in our hands until we find her feather." Taking a good look at Lily, he turned away from her, listening for any sound, but was interrupted by Gwen.

"Then why are there no sounds?" Shooting her a sideway glance, he went back to listening.

"She's cancelling out any other constant sound; to make it's easier for us."

Jenny looked around, listening to her father while listening for any other sound. She could feel the faint tinkling of the TARDIS in the back of her mind, and when concentrating, there was another sound as well; a song, soft and calming like a lullaby in a language unknown to her, but she could feel it showing her the way, guiding her ears and eyes to a place up under the ceiling.

"Father. The song, it comes from up there." Catching her father's attention, she pointed at a ceiling. The Doctor turned to her, following her direction, listening for a sound, but finding none. He turned to Jack.

"Are there anything up there?" Jack thought about it for half a second.

"Above my office? There's only the ceiling."

"And Myfanwy and her nest." Ianto supplied.

"Would Myfanwy be the Pterodactyl flying up there?" The Doctor gestured to the Pterodactyl which just had left its cave under the ceiling with a cry, flying around the Rift Manipulator, circling over them a few times, before dropping something, a rather huge and heavy looking feather, at Lily, before returning to the cave. The feather landed on Lily with the sound of stone hitting stone, dissolving on impact, shattering in billions of atoms. Only a faint glow left behind, soon to be absorbed by the wings. With a faint sigh, Lily returned to life, quickly dislocating the wires attached to her.

"I thank you, the feather returned as well as the knowledge it contained." She flexed her wings a few times, feeling the growth of a new feather. Reaching into herself, she reread the data, searching for a specific clan-data. She found her search fruitless, disappointing and a tiny little bit frustrating.

"Right, something has to be done about that." She muted to herself. Turning to face the others, she picked a feather from her back, crushing it in her hands into a fine dust.

"I name three children of Rakekind and five friends of Rakekind, may their leaving and resting go through The Rakelion. Protect and be protected, Rakelion watch out for her own." muting in a thick accent unknown to most, she spread the dust in the air, leading it to its targets; envelop them all in a silver glow. Before anyone got the time to ask, she disappeared in a silver glow, only the faint sound of feathers sounding.


	2. A chance and a change

_AN: un-brit-picked and un-beated etc. etc._

_I'm quite amazed by the amount of people which have added this story to their 'favourite' stories, thank you; I hope I won't disappoint you. _

_Disclaimer: Do not own, I'm just borrowing for the time being. _

She walked slowly toward her destination, the marble columns on each side of her and the warm stone underneath her bare feet marking her way to the temple entrance. When she had returned she had landed at the far end of the one kilometre temple path, the official path to the temple and castle of Rakelion. The long straight path went right through the capital city, people crossed it, but nobody but she walked it. The path was only meant for people visiting the temple and castle, always starting in the far end, using the walk to think. Nobody got in the way of the one walking, parents keeping a hand on their children, bowing their head for her, pointing her out for their children, spreading rumours and tales. She looked up at the temple and castle, the temple gate only a hundred meters from her now, the gate grand in its dark wood, contrast to the white of the path and pale colours of the temple and castle. She walked to the gate, knocking at it, three times. The knocks were faint and anything but loud, but anything and anyone went silent with it, people looming, staring; waiting for the gate to open to let her in. Only a few seconds went by before the gate opened and she stepped into the dark of the temple. Not waiting for anyone to accompany her she went straight ahead, directly into the deepest chamber of the temple, the room dark, large curtains keeping out the light from the entire temple. She was in what she knew was meant to be the throne room for the ruler of Rakelion, but nobody had taken that spot since the dawn of the universe. She could feel the room, the expectations, dreams and hope of the people building it. Even without the light, she could see and remember every stone laid down building the temple, every piece of 'magic', force of nature, every thread of time and piece of matter used to build this piece of the universe. She had enjoyed it, loved it, until she had realised what everyone had expected of her: for her to take the throne. She had evaded the place ever since, evaded her own world even. Now she was back, she had taken a decision long overdue, but she had taken it. She called out to the temple in her mind, calling every piece of temple, every scale of it, the minds of long lost friends resting in the temple, every living creature in Rakelion, Rakekind's, dragons, fairies etc., asking for the accepters of her taking the throne, and without a seconds thought, they all granted her it.

"I, Lily of Rakelion, hereby accept the title as Rakelion, master of Rakelion, queen of all living and death in this world and many others." The curtains flew open, the gate dissolved, letting the light shine into the temple as she walked to the throne, her dress dissolving as well, a gown of red and golden spinning around her, threads of time and matter weaving into it, dressing her in the most beautiful robe ever seen. People almost charged through the open gate, gathering to see her sit down on the throne, all cheering, some flying, some standing and a few sitting. She couldn't help admiring what now were her people, but knew she had work to do. All the laws of her world was old, as old as herself, made before the temple was even done, millions and millions of human years back, much more in her older world; billions, most likely. She didn't count time anymore, didn't bother. She knew she would be around for quite a bit longer. Still looking out at her people, her throne sat a bit higher than the normal floor, she took a quick decision.

"My people..." by the first words, the room went silence. She knew everyone could hear her anyway, any Rakekind could hear her voice when she wished for it.

"... for today we party, tomorrow evening the work begins. I would ask the head of every family to joint me for tea tomorrow at sunset in this very room. We have laws to rewrite, systems to change and new times to look forward to. Tomorrow we take the first step, but today we party." She could almost hear the party start, even before everybody had left the room. Only a single person didn't leave, a young women with till rather small wings. Still, she thought, nobody's wings got even near the same size as her own. The most had a wingspan at four meters, a few only five. Her own was nine meters, almost ten altogether. But okay, the size of the wings showed size of knowledge and age, so it was only to be expected her wings would be the biggest. Turning her focus back to the women, she addressed her.

"What can I do for you?" She asked, standing up from her throne, walking toward the women. The women seemed unbelievable nervous, kneeled down, her eyes on the floor.

"I'm Daisy, milady, the head of the Archivist family. My family has taken care of the archives, and as head I'll be delighted to serve you, if you'll let me."

"Rise, I wouldn't want anybody to stay down there for too long. Look at me young one. How old are you?" Lily stood in front of Daisy as she rose, looking into her eyes. Cobalt blue, she noted. That was unusual; normally the eye colour would be paler, much paler.

"I was sired 2 years ago milady. My father, the former head, got bored and wanted to go to sleep, so he sired me, making me the head as soon as he could." Lily sighed, she haven't expected this to happen.

"He properly didn't expect this to happen, but you seem capable. You have intelligent eyes, and properly a brilliant mind as well. Well then Daisy, you could either go party with the rest of this world, or show me around in the archives and the library, I bet you've been there as well." Daisy smiled at her, a bit insecure but less nervous, she would have to do something about that, before leading her to the archives.

Dying was surprisingly pleasant. All pain disappeared in the warm arms of Jack, like slowly falling asleep after a long day, no worries, no pain, only a warmth pleasant feeling of love and care. Closing her eyes, her consciousness slowly started to fade into nothing, and then she could hear a song. Just a faint melody, no real text, at least non she could understand. And then, she wasn't falling anymore, but she was still warm and secure, she could even feel the warmth of someone holding her. She soon realised she her consciousness was fully back again, and she slowly opened her eyes. White, all she could see was white. Slowly the white gained texture, the texture of feathers. Slowly cranking her head downwards, her body somewhat stiff, finding the source of warmth. She was sitting at the lap of someone female, warm arms holding her close, her head resting in the crane of the neck.

"Are you awake, Tosh?" a soft voice asked, effectively stopping the faint melody. Leaning a bit back, she looked at the person holding her.

"Lily?" she asked, not quite sure. She looked a bit like Lily, the features the same, but the hair and eyes were slightly different. A golden ring encapsulated dark grey irises of silver eyes, white, black and any possible and impossible shade of gray waved into silver hair, every colour clearer then she remembered. She smiled, planting a small kiss on Tosh's forehead.

"Yeah, Tosh, it's me, Lily. It hasn't been long for you, have it? Less than a month if I remember correct?" She loosened the grip at Tosh a bit, giving her a bit more room, but didn't make her leave her lap.

"A month, yeah. What happened? I died, didn't I? I remember dying..." She was confused, puzzled. She remembered being shot, remember dying, and now she was in the arms of a women she had felt oddly drawn to when they'd meet, less than a month ago.

"You did die, Tosh. Relax; I guess it can be a bit much to take in. You died, correct. You left your mortal body, and now exist now only in soul and memory. You were fading into nothing, as any soul would do, but I've trapped you in a second, preventing it from happening, feeding your soul the energy it needs to stay alive. I'm here to give you a choice, Sato Toshiko. You can die, as you were fated to do, or chose to take fate in your own hands and go on living by my side. I can let you live. It will cost you, but you'll be freer than ever before. I can't tell you more than this, only ask if you will trust me and let me help you." Lily looked at her, hoping Tosh would make the choice and chose to live.

Tosh looked up at Lily, clearly seeing the hope in her eyes. She felt drawn into them, safe and comfortable. She didn't need time to choose, her mind had decided for her, her curiosity begging for the chance to take yet another step in life, her brilliant mind needing more knowledge. Trusting someone she'd only meet once, practically a stranger; could be dangerous, but what did she have to loss? She was already dead. She leaned into Lily again, feeling somewhat sleepy.

"I trust you. Please, let me live a bit longer." She felt Lily gather her up in her arms, possibly raising, standing with her and easily carrying her weight.

"Thank you, Tosh. Just go to sleep again, I'll wake you again later." Kissing her forehead, Tosh slipped back into a comfortable asleep.


	3. A world of Angels

_AN: Here we go again, a new chapter, un-prit-picked and un-betaed as always. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, I'm only playing around with the characters. Well, Lily is mine…_

_Enjoy!_

She felt like she was floating, warm and comfortable. She was resting on a bad, she could feel it, but the mattress was so soft, she was almost floating. She slowly cranked open an eye, testing for light. Finding it not to bright, she opened her eyes. She was in a bed, as she had guessed; looking up in a beautiful decorated ceiling, faint paintings and carvings illustrating a night sky. She sat up, feeling refreshed and not the slightest bit tired anymore. She was in a lightly furniture bedroom; there was nothing but a bed and a closet. There were no windows, only a single source of light kept the room illustrated, a pearl floating in a pitcher with water. Done looking around, she took a look at herself. She was wearing what seemed like a simple, white nightgown, a bit short, but it covered. A simple knock at the door sounded, and it opened without waiting for answer. In walked a young woman Tosh didn't recognise. She smiled at her, seeing she was awake.

"You're awake? Milady will be happy to hear the news." She closed the door after herself and went to the closet, opened it and took out a dress. She checked it for dust, before handling it to Tosh.

"I'll go tell milady you're awake, you can change into this dress if you want. When you're ready, it's just out of the door, walk right, up the stairs and just straight ahead. I'll send someone to meet you along the way." Without waiting for answer, she left Tosh alone. Curious, and slightly nervous, Tosh quickly changed into the dress, a simple long blue and silver dress, slide her hands through her hair, hoping it seemed presentable. She left the room, stepping out into a slim corridor, realising she must be in a cellar, since there wasn't any windows here either. She walked right, walking past a few doors before finding the staircase. Looking back once, she walked up the stairs, lifting a bit in the dress to not step on it. She was walking barefooted since there didn't seem to be any shoes in the room, and she had noted the women had done the same. Walking in her own thoughts, she didn't realise somebody else was heading the other way, and bumbled into him on the rather slim staircase, it was clearly not meant for a lot of traffic.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking out... Ianto?" Looking up, slightly embarrassed by her accident, she realised she had walked right into no other then Ianto, Ianto she clearly remembered should be alive.

"Tosh. It's good to see you up and about again." He gave her a small hug, as well as it was possible on the stairs, before turning around and walking up the stairs again. Tosh followed him, wondering if she was dreaming. If she was, she didn't really mind, if felt like it had been fare to long since she has seen anyone, through she was a bit sad it was Ianto, she really wanted him to be alive together with Jack. Ianto lead her into a broad hallway with large windows on her right side. Following him, she walked past them, looking out over what seemed to be a garden. They soon came to a stop in front of a door between the windows. Ianto opened it, gesturing for Tosh to walk through. She walked into what would be any gardeners dream: the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. There were roses, dahlias, lilies and dozens and dozens of other flowers Tosh didn't remember the name of, and a few she was quite sure didn't exist on earth.

"Tosh!" A pair of arms grasped her from behind, dragging her into a rather awkward hug. A pair of wings encapsulated them for a second, before disappearing out of sight again.

"Lily?" Tosh guessed.

"Yup, it's me. I didn't expect to see you up today, I thought a few more days would pass by. You're the second to awake today and Ianto reawaken yesterday. The entire group is finally together. Come, I asked Daisy to make tea, which meant Ianto made coffee. We're having a small 'tea' party in the garden." Lily took Tosh's hand and leaded her further into the garden, unto the lawn where a table stood ready, the women from earlier was pouring up coffee, her light blue wings shading over the table, to Tosh's confusing. When she had meet the woman earlier, she didn't have wings and they didn't seem to be easy to hide. At the table sat yet another surprise; no other then doctor Owen Harper peacefully drinking a cup of coffee.

"Owen!" Owen looked up from his coffee, but didn't put down the cup.

"Do you see anyone else, Tosh?" taking yet another sip.

"God I've missed this." He muted, finishing his cup, just to have it refilled by Daisy. Lily pushed Tosh into a chair beside Owen, Daisy giving her a cup of coffee she gladly accepted. Taking a sip of the hot drink, she recognised the special taste of Ianto's coffee, remembering Torchwood. Lily got Ianto and Daisy seated, before taking a seat as well.

"Everybody comfortable?" she said, receiving nods for answer.

"Great, because we need to have a talk, a rather long one: first, the obvious: you all died on earth and accepted my offers. Tosh, Owen, we all know how you died, Ianto, would you be so kind to explain your death?" She sipped her coffee and managed to convince Daisy to stay in her seat, the young woman just wouldn't understand; she wasn't just a servant, but a friend, while Ianto explained in rough details his situation to Tosh and Owen.

"It's only been a few days since your death, yet you're up and walking before us?" Owen asked; refilling his cup again, just how much coffee could that man drink?

"Yeah, that's my fault." Lily butted in.

"The two of you died less than a month after I'd taken my position, and I had to change quite a few laws before I could sire the two of you. I marked all of you that day I meet you, but honestly, I didn't have the permission to do it. As the laws were, I could only sire one person at a time, there had to go at least a century between each. I can still only sire one as mate or child, but I can sire a dozen as trainees or servants if I want to and have a good reason. There are some quite special rules about each sire-type, and I'm going to explain that in just a bit, but you'll all need a bit of information first." She took a sip of her coffee and a deep breath, getting ready for a long, complicated explanation.

"Welcome to Rakelion; welcome to a life quite different from the one you're all used to. I'm Lily, the Rakelion, queen of this world and its entire people, and this place is my temple and castle, my home." She took out a pen and started to draw and write in the air, the ink staying in place, writing each word.

"By the look of it, this world reminds a bit of earth: the air has the same basis, but it's cleaner then it's on earth, the gravitation is equal to earths, the colour spectrum is the same, the language aren't the same, nor is the written language, and we don't have a sun." She drew each note, remembering to write in English.

"This world is constantly lit by the same energy we feast of. You don't have to eat or drink, actually you can't eat, we can't digest food, but we can drink any liquid. Our food source is a sort of potential energy, we call it the Waves. It's the energy left over when any living creature dies. A body creates enormous amounts of energy, each cell in the body does, but since a human dies before its cells die, they still produce energy in a period of time after the time of death. That energy is released, a bit like a gas, from the body, and we drain that energy, remove it, harvest it, if you want to use that word, and feed of it. It comes from every planet in the universe, and the amounts are huge. There's enough to light up this ever expanding world and still more than enough to feed us all. It'll take some time to understand, and I'll make you all study it once you've all learned the language of this world." She looked around to try and get a feeling for how well they took in the new information. Ianto, which already had managed to get some of the information out of her the previous day, was blank, and she really wanted to know how he could keep doing that. Owen seemed overwhelmed and a tiny little bit sceptical, and Tosh mostly looked like a new student sucking in information and eager for more. They took it better then she would have thought, they had pretty much been thrown into something completely different from one moment to another. She had to thanks Jack someday; he had equipped his people quite well.

"How much have Jack told you about how this universe, this reality, is build?" He must have told them something, but she didn't know how much Jack knew. Ianto flicked at the name and Tosh looked away, even Owen looked somewhat sad.

"To early to mention your former lives?" Tosh nodded.

"You'll all have to understand you'll have to give up on that way of living. You aren't humans anymore; your bodies are different even if your minds aren't. Before you all accept it, I can't get to work with you. For now are you all my trainees, my property. This world is built on trade, but a bit much more avenged then in the human world. We do favours for each other. We learn our trades and help each other, we don't have money. I have a Gardner to help me with my garden; I pay him with fruits from my garden which his family makes wine and juice from, this he can trade for other favours, such as having a sewer make a dress or something else. We can even use knowledge as a trade. Daisy's family do that. I let her take care of my archives and library, and for that she gain knowledge, she can use for a trade. Everything in this world is gained that way, so different from humans. Rarely, even people are used in a trade. If someone from a sewer family wants to become a Gardner, they'll have to move to another family. That can be done through marriage, or trade. It must seem bizarre now, but you'll come to understand it with time."

Tosh took in every bit of information she could get, eager to learn about her new situation, but she couldn't help flick when Lily mentioned Jack. Jack had once again lost somebody near him, once again in his long life, had he been left behind. She wasn't sad for her own dead, she had been giving a new chance, but Jack had been left behind again on that cost. Sure, Gwen was there, but how long would it be before she would die? Jack had given her so much, and she had hoped she could give something back to him again someday, and maybe, just maybe, the chance haven't slipped past her yet. So she sucked in all the new information, especially the part of trade. How could she trade? She didn't have a clue, but she hoped it wasn't by trading herself. She knew Lily only was giving them a quick explanation to this world, but she was determined to learn. She sipped a bit of her coffee, and found her cup empty once again. She had consumed more coffee since she woke up, then she would have on a busy Torchwood day. Had she missed it so much, or was it something else? She tried to understand the feeling of need her body was putting out. She was thirsty, unbelievable thirsty. She looked at Own, whom seemed to have realised the same, Ianto seemed somewhat normal.

"Lily, why are we so thirsty?" She asked, somehow more interested in that, than the trading. The thirst seemed to get stronger for every second. Lily turned to her, her look first confused, then enlightened. She said a few quick words to the other women, Daisy was it, and in a language Tosh didn't recognized.

"I'll have Daisy bring something around, it'll help. Our bodies are mainly made up of matter, water and The Wave energy. When I made the bodies, I can only control the matter and Wave, not the water, so you are seriously dehydrated right now." Daisy was back in a second, handling Tosh and Owen a cup of a clear liquid. To thirsty to think about it, they drank it in one go. Somehow, the small potion helped more than the huge amount of coffee they just consumed.

"Let's have a quick 101 biology lesson. As said before, our body are made up of matter, water and Wave energy. The matter let us keep a physical shape, the Wave keeps us living and moving, and the water helps keep the body smooth and soft as well as carry the Wave energy around. Our bodies have the shape of humans, with a few outer differences and quite a few on the inside. Our bones are stronger, slender and lighter, a bit like a birds but much stronger. The skin is nearly unbreakable and our hair is stronger as well. Compared to a human body, our bodies are more like living diamond, thereby the name 'diamond skin' when we concentrate our energy outside our bodies. Internal, only a few organs are the same. We have a lung, but we don't need air, it's only to help with the talking. We have a heart placed more central then a human heart, but in the same area. We have a gastric, but it ends there. No intestinal, no kidneys, no liver etc. We don't need them, since we don't eat. We absorb the water, or any liquid, we drink, and break down the elements we don't need. Some enters our system, like caffeine and alcohol, but our metabolism work's rather fast, so to get drunk, you'll have used hyper vodka or something stronger, and you won't be out for long, poisons doesn't have any effect either. I'll have you all read up on it later, for now we have other, more urgent matters to take care of." She sat her cup on the table again and took a book Daisy had brought with her earlier. It was bound in red leather with a golden chest on. Tosh leaned over to get a better look, and Lily tipped it a bit so she could see. A text was written in a language she didn't recognize, but she could guess it was the local writing system. Series of circles with multiple signs and other circles entangled in, bound together with letters of triangles, again with signs and other triangles, and curled up scripts. All encircling a single feather, wrapped around it like a ribbon, with a single row of letters, circles and triangles, over it.

"Is this the writing of this world?" She asked, reaching out to touch the book, but Lily wouldn't let her.

"Sorry, not yet." She said, apologizing.

"Yes and no. It's the oldest language in this world, but nobody talks it anymore and only a few can read, talk and write it. I'll explain it later, but first, the contents of this book. This is a book of contracts, my book of contracts. It contains all the contracts with trainees and mates, or children, I have brought into this world. And as you can see..." She opened the book on the first page.

"... I have yet to use it." The page was blank; nothing had yet tainted the fine pages.

"As it is right now, all of you can be seen as refugees. You don't belong to a clan, so anybody can come and claim you. You don't have any value just yet, and you don't have a link to the Waves either. Each of you have a package of it in your bodies from when I made it, I've feed you energy though my link, but since you have awakened, I can't do that anymore. To make that link, you'll have to enter a contract, and I would prefer it would be to me, but you are free to choose to leave." She looked at each of them, receiving nods.

"When you enter a contract, a price will have to be paid from each participant involved. I'll take some of yours, and I'll give you some of mine. We'll have to agree on the deal for it to work, but ultimately it's me who determines the price. Are you willing to do that?" She looked at each of them again.

"I'm willing to pay a price to learn more." Tosh was determined to go through with this.

"I'll do it." Owen, having already died once, didn't want to go back again.

"I'll do it as well." Ianto, already having a faint idea of Lily's plan with them, was ready for it as well. Lily smiled a sinister smile, she had feared the worst, but she turned serious in a matter of seconds.

"Let's get started then. I ask of all of you to enter a trainee's contract, unlike a mate or child contract, there no family bindings. You'll all answer to me, and you'll all be under my protection. I have responsibility to teach you, to reward and punish you as well. As long as you're bound by a trainee's contract, you are my property; I can dissolve the contract at any time and with trainee's permission, change it as well. If you all understand, we can begin." Again receiving nods, she rose from her chair.

"Okay. We'll have to take the contracts one at the time, since it's an individual contract. Tosh, would you do me the honour of being my first trainee?" she asked, reaching her hand out for Tosh to take. Tosh took her hand, and let her be leaded a few meters away from the table. Lily took a look around them, they needed a bit of space and she really didn't want to harm the nearby roses. She had the book in hand, turning to Owen, Ianto and Daisy.

"You'll be our witnesses, we can't enter a contract without. Please keep quiet and keep your distance" She turned back to Tosh.

"I have to have access to your back, Tosh. The key point for a contract is the contact point for the wings. So if you'll turn around and keep yourself covered in front, I'll loosen the dress on your back." Tosh, a bit embarrassed, nodded and turned her back to Lily, whom easily loosed the zipper in her back. Turning the book to the first page she summoned the necessary energy from deep inside herself, she laid her right hand on Tosh's back, just beneath her should blades.

"Sato Toshiko of Earth, are you willing to enter a contract with I; Lily the Rakelion?" She asked, starting the ceremony.

"Yes." A clear answer came from Tosh. She could feel the faint touch of a soft wind forming around them, encapsulating them in the energy of the ceremony.

"Are you willing to hand over the right to your name and freedom to choose your mate as a price, receiving a bond to the Waves, language of the Angels of Rakelion and knowledge?"

"Yes I am." Tosh answered clear again, sure in her trust in Lily. She could feel the wind pick up, quickly encapsulating them in a light fog, nothing leaving the circle and nothing gaining access.

"I; Lily the Rakelion of Rakelion, hereby handle over my part of the contract, a feather of language and a feather of knowledge." As the prices were listed, Tosh felt the spot under Lily's hand grow warm. She could feel the knowledge of the ceremony flow into her, and instantly knew what to do.

"I; Sato Toshiko of Earth, hereby handle over my part of the contract, the right to my name and the freedom to choose my mate." As the words were said, she felt something being sucked out of her, and into the hand of her back.

"We hereby have a contract." Lily answered, slowly removing her hand from Tosh's back.

As Lily removed her hand, Tosh felt a surge of energy flowing out from her back and another one entering her body. She found her legs weak, collapsing, but Lily was ready to catch her, supporting her easily. Even through the ceremony was support to be over, the wind and fog encapsulating them hadn't disappeared yet.

"Tosh, you'll have to touch the book for the agreement to be completely done." She lifted the book up in front of Tosh, the two visible pages now filled with text. Quickly scanning over the pages, she found the spot she had to touch, leaving a faint fingerprint there, the wind calmed down and she found the strength to stand by herself again. Standing up, she felt a slight stiffness she hadn't realised was there before, gone, and her balance changed, her back slightly heavier. Looking around her back to find the source, she found a pair of wings, pure white with a black base as far as she could guess from the small part she could see without a mirror. Quickly calculating, she estimated them to be about one meter long each, and only two-parted in contrast to Lily's three-parted wings. She heard footsteps, and turned to face Owen and Ianto, Daisy standing just behind them.

"Tosh, you got wings..." It was the only thing Owen could come up with.

"Yes of course she got wings; she wouldn't be an Angel of Rakelion without them, now would she? But I have to say, it must be the biggest pair I have seen for a newborn. Usually they are only about 20 cm each, 50 cm as a maximum, but 1 meter each? That must be a record." Lily closed the dress around the wings; it was made for it, while studying her wings.

"What about my name? You got my name in the contract." Tosh asked, rustling her wings a bit, trying to get a feel for them.

"Yes, your name. I name you Toshiko; or Tosh to friends. Humans have two-parted names, or more, and I only have to take one name. Usually you would get a new name after the one naming you, but I don't have a second name, so I can't give you a new one." She turned to the boys.

"Owen, you're next. Daisy, could you take Tosh and Ianto back to the table?" Daisy nodded and answered with a faint yes. Tosh could hear Lily giving the first instructs to Owen, before they were covered in the wind and fog.

"You couldn't see what happened?" Tosh realised, looking over where Lily and Owen were supposed to be.

"No, only this could be seen." Ianto gestured to the wind and fog.

A few minutes later, Owen was done as well, having gained pure white wings, same size as Tosh's. She couldn't help but admire them just a bit. He wasn't wearing a shirt anymore, since it had to be removed for the ceremony, and it must have been rather difficult to get it on again afterwards. A few minutes passed by in silence, before Ianto and Lily returned to the table, Ianto with a pair of dark-red wings, again, same size as Owen and Tosh's.

"One newborn with so large wings is a rarity; three at the same time can't be a coincident. Jack must have told you more then you knew, but you all had to be natural geniuses for this to work. So, I got myself three geniuses at hand, what to do, what to do." She couldn't help but smirk. Those three had so much potential, possible without even knowing it.


	4. Field Trip

_AN: As some may have noticed, the length of the chapters change quite a bit, and there's one quite good reason: I didn't write the story for others to read; originally I didn't plan to put it on , so there were no chapters originally, only one long, long piece of text. I'm currently carving it up, cleaning it up for the most irritation mistakes, so please bear over with me._

_Un-brit-picked and un-betaed, as so often before._

_Disclaimer: Do not own, I'm just playing a bit with the characters. _

She quickly had them put to good use; nearly sealed them all in the library in periods, watching them consume knowledge, practise language with Daisy and a few other visitors. In the first few weeks Lily taught them the practice of flying and the nature of the Waves, but she didn't learn them about the practise of using the Waves. Unfortunately, she had to let Daisy take care of a rather large amount of the more active teaching; such as helping them understand what they read in the books. But she where there when all the big events happened, such as the flying, the first full conversation at their new language, and when they realised they didn't have to sleep anymore, but her work kept her away most of the time, leaving only a few afternoons to tea and coffee. It was one of these afternoons she finally told them her plans for their nearest future.

"We're going on a fieldtrip." Tosh and Owen, which had been discussing biology, silenced.

"A field trip?" Owen turned slightly to look more directly at her, formerly having been turned toward Tosh.

"A field trip, yes. You've all been her for half a year already; and I haven't let you walk outside the temple just yet. It's time to drop the books and go see what you can't learn by reading. Rakelion has a population at about one billion and approximately seven billion lives at different planets all over this universe, but the former head archivist wasn't very productive and haven't registered all the new Angels, and neither did he registered those whom choose to pass away. So I am going on a trip around this universe, and as my trainees, you're all coming with me. It's a nice chance for you all to learn to travel through the Time Vortex and the universe. We're leaving this evening, I'll bring what we need, and you'll just have to bring yourself. Oh, and please wear some decent cloth, Owen." Lily had given him some decent cloth, but he had refused to use it, wearing only what he had as a human. Tosh had gotten used to wear dresses, she had trousers as well, but skirts and dresses were quite nice to wear, and Ianto whom already had a good sense of style; Lily had given him cloth in the same style, but she had somehow managed to keep the colours in black, red and white, all beautifully matching his dark red wings.

At sunset, Tosh, Owen and Ianto walked into the garden, to find Lily waiting for them. For once, she was dresses in her red and golden dress, only used when she had official business. She had worn it the day she transformed them, but they had soon learned the importance and meaning of that dress. Tosh had found a whole book explaining the thousands of small signs woven into it, the meaning of each and every thread.

"Oh, you're here. I hope you're all ready, it's going to be a rather long trip."

"For such a long trip, you aren't bringing much luggage." Lily nodded at Owen.

"It may seem so, yes." She pointed at her handbag; a simple black silk.

"This one contains everything we need. It's so much bigger on the inside." She smirked, she had a love for Time Lord Technology, and this one had to be her favourite.

"Now, let's go, we have a lot of worlds to visit, but first, we have to make an official visit in a nearby town. My expertise has been requested." She pulled a leather pouch out of her handbag, snapping it open to reveal a piece of paper.

"Physic paper." She said, pointing to the four lines of text on it.

"Date of dispatch, place, name and request. All requests to me are written like this." She handled it over to Tosh, while she checked her handbag to see if she had forgot anything.

"'3th March 2001, Zephyranth, Aster, you're service is required.' This doesn't say much." Owen looked over her shoulder.

"And isn't the date wrong?" Tosh asked, handling the pouch to Ianto.

"Yes and no. It's the third day, third month of the first year of the new era. The old era was getting a bit long to write down, so we made a reset when I took seat at the throne. I'll love to stay here and lecture you all, but we'll have to take it while travelling to Zephyranth." Flexing her wings, she stretched them out, before taking to the skies, soon to be followed by Tosh, Owen and Ianto. Flying over the city and towards the mountains in the far horizon, she kept the other close; aware their wings weren't as strong just yet.

"This is going to be another you-are-no-longer-at-earth-lecture: you should have learned a day equals 20 hours, nine hours with light, nine with dark, and two which reminds of sunset and dawn on earth. There goes 20 days to a week, five weeks to a month, in other words 100 days to a month, and ten months, 1000 days, on a year, called a Rake. You've all been here a bit more than half an earth year, actually precise two months, 200 days. Well, it's been 200 days since you awoke; a bit more since you arrived." She lowered the speed a bit, soon standing still in the air like a hawk on a hunt.

"As you may have realised; this is not a planet. There's no sun but plenty of stars. This whole universe, this reality, is sealed in an ever expanding bubble. This world is placed in the membrane keeping this reality together, no, this world is the membrane, keeping the universe from floating into the void between the different realities. I really hope you have had time to read up on this."

"This world keeps all other worlds in balance, stabilises The Wave flow and keep the Time Vortex in place, populated by a race called Angels, by some called Guardian Angels, or Angels of Time, for their role as cleaners and guardians of The Wave. There's no race as mighty as Angels." Ianto closed the small note book he had gotten for habit of writing in. Lily smirked, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Again; yes and no. You must have found a book by Daisy's father; he was rather egoistic, or maybe just proud of being an Angel. Yes, we are the guardians and cleaners of this universe, but we aren't the mightiest race. Everything, every race, element, every single thing, has a counterpart, even we. They only different is; they died. Or most of them died; there are a few individuals left. They became victim to their own egoism. They thought themselves too mighty and forgot their counterpart and died of that mistake. But that's a story for another time, now, let's go, I have a job to do."

They soon arrived at a small town at a lakeside in a mountain valley. It was a small town, only a few houses and a few boats at the lakeside. The valley was filled with flowers; no fields had destroyed the natural beauty of the valley. They landed by the lakeside, and were greeted by what seemed to be every citizen of the town. No one cheered, and the air seemed strangely stiff.

"My service was requested." Lily had an official air around her; neither of her trainees had felt before.

"I thank you for coming, milady Rakelion." A woman stepped out from masses.

"I, Aster of Zephyranth, request your service." Aster bowed.

"Have you thought properly about this decision?" The question seemed automatic, a procedure nobody really cared about but had to be done.

"I have milady."

"Then I ask you to take your finally goodbyes. You have five minutes." She turned around, heading to her trainees, stopping in front of them.

"I realise I have forgot to tell you something about the Angel race. Since our sole energy intake comes from The Waves and our bodies are made of clean matter, they don't decay. We can't die the natural way, even if your body is broken apart, cut up in thousands and thousands of small pieces, blown apart, or any other possible horror, it will reconnect in a matter of minutes. The only way is to cut the line to The Waves and dissolve the matter, and only I can do that. Requesting my service means to ask me to help them die. It can be a bit hard to take in, I know, and you don't need to see this. You can all go down to the lake and wait there for me." Without waiting an answer; as so often before; she turned her back to them, walking back to Aster.

"Are you ready?" Aster nodded.

"Then kneel." Aster kneeled down, as did Lily in front of her.

"Aster of Zephyranth, do you accept the ending of your contact and contract with The Waves and Rakelion as you requested?" Lily took her hands in her own, keeping them close.

"I, Aster of Zephyranth accept and voluntarily give back what I was granted at my birth and wish for eternal sleep in The Rakelion." A weak light emerged from the base of her wings, slowly dissolving her into a fine dust.

"Your wish is granted." Lily whispered, seeing the matter dissolving in front of her, forming lines before weaving into her own feathers, cleaning the matter before they completely dissolved, leaving back a small seed where Aster once had been. Lily picked up the small seed and handled it to her family.

"Please, handle it with care. You would know where to plant this." Receiving nods and muted answers, she beds her farewells and walked away. Much to her delight, or should she maybe be concerned, her trainees hadn't left. Without a word, she took off to the sky again, Tosh, Owen and Ianto soon to follow her.

They flew for a long while without speaking; first over the lake and the mountains, before Lily changed the direction to fly directly toward the sky. They felt a faint tickling over their skin when they flew through the thin membrane separating Rakelion from the universe. It was no real atmosphere, just a thin membrane. Entering the vast space they quickly picked up speed and soon Rakelion was just the black sky behind them sprinkled with small dots of stars they already had passed by.

"Lily, can I ask you a question?" Tosh said, breaking the silence. As there was no air in the vast universe between planets, it were second nature for an Angel to use telepathic instead of actually speech, but it sounded just the same.

"Just one?" Lily didn't look back, but a small smile was playing at the corner of her lips.

"I might have quite a few."

"I thought so. Feel free to ask, we have quite a lot of time on our hands right now."

"You, being what you are, is it part of your contract?" Tosh wasn't entirely sure on how to form her first question.

"Okay, we don't have that much time. You'll have to break your question up, otherwise are we never going to get through it." She slowed down a bit and turned around to face them, flying backwards.

"Is your ability to kill other a part of your contract?"

"My ability to release others of their contract: yes."

"Are your position as the Rakelion a part of your contract?"

"Yes."

"The Rakelion is the highest being in Rakelion."

"Yes?"

"Then, if you are the highest being, who binds you to your contract? You said the Rakelion is Rakelion in every sense of the word; the keeper, the soul and the pillar of that world, once. Who can bind you in a contract?" Lily went quite for a while, amazed by the brilliance of Tosh, while wondering how to explain her reasons, without telling the whole hidden story.

"And, when you bound us to our contracts with you, you used a book with writings on; writings neither us can read. Why isn't it in the language of Rakelion?"

"One question at the time please; I'll have quite a bit of explaining to get it all, and it's quite a long story. I won't tell you everything just yet, neither of you has the clearance for that. The Rakelion is the oldest being in the world of the Rakelion, there by the name. The world Rakelion is named after an old friend, my old friend. I am as old as Rakelion itself, I named it and helped it into existence. I am bound in a duel-contract with a different species, and as long as both species comply by our vows, and keep ourselves alive, we can both exist. If either of us ceases to exist, the contract will go back, and we will die as well. The book is as old the contract, and it is written in a long forgotten language. It contains only the contracts written directly to the Rakelion, those that answer to me and only to me. The Lords, or head of the different families, have a changeable contract with me of a different kind; it's in another book if you should wonder." They all went silent for a bit of time, processing the new information while Lily was lost in memories of times long gone. Owen soon brought her attention back to the presence.

"If you are as old at Rakelion, how old are you then?"

"Older then I want to remember. The Angels is one of the oldest races in this universe. I have to admit, I haven't been awake all the time; it gets boring being around for too long, so I take a nap now and then, once in a while to my own regret. In my last nap, I missed some rather important events." She turned around gracefully, lost in thoughts.

"Will you tell us about it?"

"Someday I might, but not in the near future."

_AN2: As any fangirl/-boy knows: reviews are love and fuel for any -writer. _


	5. As time passes by, things change

AN: I'm not entirely sure if I'm satisfied with this chapter, but I hope it'll do.

Disclaimer: I only own Lily, the rest is borrowed.

Time passed by and soon 1½ Rake had passed, almost 5 human years. Lily and her trainees had travelled across the universe, visited more planets then they could care to count and stayed for generous amounts of time at multiple of them, visiting colonies of Angels across the universe. She had left them in the hands of good friends multiple times while she had to attend to official business.

Lily lay back in the grass at New Earth, enjoying a short break with her trainees by her side, enjoying the break as well. New Earth had become their sanctuary away from home, the place they visited when they needed a break. Lily had friends in the high mountains not far from New New York. Now, they laid in the meadow behind the house, neither of them sleeping, but all relaxing, Ianto by Lilys side and Owen with his head in Toshs lap. They had after a Rake of hidden glances and simple flirting, found together at their first trip back to Earth. It had been a Rake after their death; they had arrived at a small cottage in Svalbard owned by a sister of Daisy, and her lover. Immediately upon arrival, Tosh, Owen and Ianto had collapsed under the weight of an unusual kind of Wave energy caused by The Miracle. To avoid damage, Lily had put them to sleep and left them at the cottage with Artemisia, Daisy's sister, to figure out the nature of the problem. She came back a day later, half a day after they had awakened again, to find their bodies heavy but unaffected. Artemisia had explained to them that Lily had rerouted the Wave energy they needed through her, as a filter, and it would become easier to move once she was back. In the meantime, she had explained the use of letter-ribbons, the mail-type the Angels communicated by when the distant were too great for the use of telepathy. When Lily had came back, reliving them of the burden the distant created, she had explained about the use of specially made cloth for masking of their wings. Up until now, she had been able to mask them all with her force-field, but at planets such as earth with doors to small for their wings, they would use cloth with Time Lord Technology, making it bigger on the inside, masking their wings completely.

"Catch." Lily threw a coat to each of them and showed them how to wear it.

"Like this, you're all ready to walk alone on earth. You're not going to do that just yet, I'm not letting either of you out of my sight again in the near future. Now, for one of the main reasons to visit Artemisia and Irene; they have the most beautiful pair of markings I've ever seen. With that I'm going to explain the last few parts of the Angel body. Or I think it's the last lesson, I might have forgot something. Anyway, Artemisia, Irene, would you please show us your markings." Artemisia and Irene, Artemisia's lover, a woman in her early forties, easily took of their shirts, showing their backs, which were marked with identical patterns of flowers, ribbons of colours and text in different language, spreading out where Artemisia's wings had their base, and identical at Irene's back, even though she didn't have wings.

"This is called the Lovers Marks, a pair of identical colourful marks growing from the wings, growing with their love, so to say. In all the years they are together, and have been together, these marks will grow. Now, Irene is not an Angel, she's just human, but she has entered a contract with Artemisia, named her so to say, marked her as her own to take and make an Angel when her death arrives, exactly as I did with the three of you, except; Artemisia asked before she named Irene, I asked after, after you died. Now..." Lily took a piece of paper and wrote down a few different titles.

"There are multiple different states of marks, where Lovers Mark can be called the final one. First one is called Beloveds Mark, a small gray mark which appears and grows between the wings, where the base of the final mark is placed. It appears when someone is in love, but hasn't realised or hasn't told, and it's a mark for the single, the one you're in love with will not have an identical mark. You could say it's a mark with appears when you have a crush on somebody. If you give it time, it can grow pretty big, but never outside the framing of the wings and always gray. The next one is the Receivers Mark, and it's black instead of gray. It works on the same principle, but only if both members of the not-yet-a-pair are in love with each other, but haven't told the other part yet. This one is often rather short-lived. Next comes the Pairs Mark; it's the state between the Receivers Mark and the Lovers Mark, faint colours and a slow growth, building upon the Receivers Mark. It signals a starting relationship and as the love deepens, so does the mark, slowly evolving into Lovers Mark." She laid down her paper and pen and smiled smug at her trainees.

"Now, before next part, I think we should make some tea and coffee, and I bet Irene would love some dinner soon. Tosh, Owen, would you mind go get some firewood for the fireplace while Ianto can make the coffee and tea?" Tosh and Owen quickly marched of, both slightly blushing, while Ianto went to the kitchen. Lily sat down with Artemisia and Irene, all looking smug.

"And if I'm even remotely correct, they all have the Receivers Mark at their back." Irene smiled smugly while making sure not to raise her voice. Her Norwegian accent shining through in her speech, making her slightly rough version of Rake-speak sing with a different tune then Artemisia's.

"You forgot to tell them you can see it at the wing tips as well..." Artemisia remarked, her voice always reminded Lily of a slowly flowing stream, the accent of her family giving the rather neutral Rake-speak a bit of flow.

"Oh, they'll figure that out soon enough. I'll bet you we have a pair of Pairs Mark when the two of them come back."

"There's no bet in that, it's as clear as the day. But I would love to know who your young Welshman is in love with; the mark is rather big. Will it work out for him?" Irene sighed, leaning into Artemisias side; neither of them had bothered to take their shirts back on yet.

"Can you see that fare, Lily of the Rakelion?" She asked.

"I can but; I won't. I have no need to, it'll work out, I know it will. The other part of that Receivers mark still loves him, not even knowing he's alive. Their love is strong, but it was built on unstable ground; it didn't give them enough time. But I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it."

When Owen and Tosh came back, Tosh was blushing and Owen looked rather smug. Soon Ianto jointed them with coffee, congratulating both Tosh and Owen, and Lily started the last lesson, still sitting with Irene and Artemisia.

"The last lesson is rather vital for the Angel specie: mating and children. It can be done by two ways: the old fashioned way I really hope I don't have to explain in to great details, and by the way of contract. When we make a contract, a normal Angel can do it two different ways, and I don't count as normal. It can either be as Irene and Artemisia; a lovers contract, or a child's contract, a contract with a dying or dead child. Each will register as partner or child of the contract giver in the registers in Rakelion. The other is alike for any specie, with one rather simple different. An Angel can't become pregnant by chance or accident. As you may have noticed, Tosh, there are no menstrual cycles for an angel. The eggs won't mature until you and your partner both want a child, and yes, I'm talking about you Owen. The telepathic link between a pair makes it possible only when the two of you want it. And I should inform you about a few other facts: a pregnancy will imitate a standard pregnancy on the planet you're on, to make you fit in, and so will the growth of the child."

Lily couldn't help laugh a bit of the memory. Tosh had been heavily blushing and even Owen had to look away, not keeping s straight face for long. Ianto had been impressing blank through the entire lesson, but then again, it would never really matter to him. Lying in the grass, even older memories surfaced; memories of a promise she would soon have to fulfil. She looked at her trainees; it hadn't taken them long to get used to so different a life. They had matured quicker than anyone she had ever seen, and once she had had the chance, she had taken a look into the reason: visiting the ruins of Torchwood Three, taking a look at the dormant Rift. Taking in the area, the reason wasn't hard to figure out: the Rift was a double-edged sword: pouring out both negative and positive things and knowledge, but only the people with the right sort of mind could take in it all, processing the information without becoming insane; even if the information never got a chance to surface. The trip through the semi-consciousness layer of reality, the one she had trapped them in when she asked them to come to her, a layer all living minds passed through when they died, had sorted out the huge amounts of information, and the extra brain capacitate which came with the wings, made it all surface. She couldn't help but smile; what should have been a gift for a friend to ease a heavy burden; became her own salvation as well. Stretching, she took another look at her trainees. Tosh was massaging Owens scalp, smiling peacefully at him, planting butterfly kissed at his lips every once in a while. Ianto was looking up into the sky, far away in his thoughts, properly thinking of Jack. She had asked him once, and he had confessed to still loving Jack, knowing only too well his mark came from that; but he had never really realised it was a Receivers Mark, not a Beloveds Mark. She had never told them why or how, but she had known Jack for a long time; ever since he had became immortal. She had been out on a casual flight, running away from her duties again, when she had felt a conscious being forcefully dragged back through the semi-consciousness. With her duties to help other Angels pass over, she had received a strong connection with the semi-conscious layer, feeling it when something passed over, it was just a faint glimpse of light disappearing in the back of her mind, but something being dragged back was so unusual, she had to go see it for herself. She had arrived at Satellite 5, feeling the faint traces of the Doctor and the TARDIS. Realising what had happened, she had cursed in several very creative languages while going through the satellite to meet Jack, confirming her suspicion; feeling a piece of the Time Vortex inside him, as well as a strong link to the Waves. Since then she had meet him multiple times, in the semi-conscious layer and meeting in personal at random planets, when their paths chose to cross. When he had settled down in Cardiff, she had followed his work at a distance, keeping check at him every time he died, feeling just a tiny little bit guilty for his condition. Then came his time with Tosh, Owen and Ianto, and he for once seemed more eager to get back to his body, and Lily had hoped he had finally found his place to stay. The year that never was took its stroll at him, and by then, she knew of the changes to come, and she made her decision. Through she had met the Torchwood Three team by chance, thanks to the Doctor, she couldn't help the faint feeling of fate, when she named them and parted with them. It felt like only days later, when Jack started to re-enter the semi-conscious layer multiple times with only a few minutes in between. After less than an hour, she got too annoyed to work, and entered the semi-conscious layer, to keep him there through his deaths while sealing his body in a time-lock, freeing her from the constant flash of light Jack's revival caused.

"Now Jack, I don't know what you've done to deserve dying and reviving over and over again, but I know I haven't done anything to deserve the flash of light, which in your case reminds more of a kick in the head, from a revival, so I'm going to speed things up a little bit. Felt that? It was the first one thousand years, oh, we're almost there. Now shush, don't try to interrupt me, it won't be worth your time, but I'm going to make a promise to you. A promise you most likely won't remember until much later: five years. Give me five years of your time, and I'll make it worth the wait. Five years from that day, and you know which day when you encounter it, meet me at the Water Tower at sunset. Back to your body you go, I'll see you later." She returned to her body, getting back to her work and waiting. She had never told anybody about the promise, not Daisy or her trainees.

Lily stood up, stretching her body and wings, ruffling her feathers with a weak breeze, waking her trainees from their almost meditations-like stage, each of them soon standing as well, stretching as well.

"Where going back to Earth, more specific: to Cardiff. I have taught each of you to travel through the Time Vortex, now it's time to the last test. Date: 18th September 2014, place: one kilometre over the old Torchwood Three, time: at sunrise. I'll see you all there." Smiling at them, she quickly disappeared into the Time Vortex, easily finding the right time and place, settling to wait for her trainees. Ianto was the first to arrive: materialised into the air in a fluent walk which could bring even the most experienced Angel to shame. She couldn't help letting a glance at him; he had always been elegant and unbelievable handsome with his waistcoat and trousers, and even more recently, when he had gotten him into the full three-piece suit. He had grown in the five years; stronger, cleverer and he had been quite popular every time somebody felt like throwing them a ball, which happened more often then they cared for. His wings had grown from the one metre to two, each, and evolved from dark red, to a black base, fading to a dark bloody red at the tips.

Moments later, Tosh and Owen arrived hand in hand. They had grown in their five years as well; cleverer and stronger, Tosh had allowed her hair to grow long when Owen had admitted to finding it rather sexy, and it was now always collected in a neat braid, if Owen hadn't found the chance to change that, which happened rather often. Their wings had grown equally to Iantos, neither of them changing colour through.

"Brilliant, you all did it flawlessly, again." Hidden by her force field, they basked in the early morning sun.

"Why are we back in Cardiff?"

"Always so direct, Owen. I have my reasons, but first, I have a small gift for you all. Come." Silently gliding down through the air, she soon landed by the Water Tower, and without waiting, she walked to the small tourist shop which used to be the entrance to Torchwood Three. Knocking on the door, it soon was opened by a young boy. He stared at her, before running inside again, leaving the door open.

"Mother! Lady Rakelion is here!" She could hear the young boy crying out. She easily walked through the door, much to the surprise of her trainees, since the door seemed much too small for her wings.

"Are you going to stand there the entire day? Come inside." She walked through the tourist office, looking the same even after five years, around the disk and through a new door where the hidden entrance to the Hub used to be.

"Where are you going, Lily?" Tosh asked, following her through the door first.

"We are visiting Lord Laurus and his family. They have taken care of some work for me the past years, and I've let him build a new home here. He's a master builder, almost creating everything out of nothing. It's not true, of course, but it could seem like it; he's specialised in inter-dimensions of matter. You should have read about that, anyway, it makes it bigger on the inside." She walked through the door, entering a living room, finding a group of four waiting for her.

"Owen, Tosh, Ianto. Meet Lord Laurus, his wife Tilia, daughter Rosa and their son, Olive." Greetings were quickly exchanged and soon, Lily had disappeared into an office with Lord Laurus, muting something about plans. Tilia made them all tea and coffee, and sat down in the living room with them, her son constantly by her side, always slightly hiding.

"How old is he?" Tosh asked, making polite conversation.

"Five this summer. He's born in Rakelion, but has lived at Earth for almost five years now." She lifted him up to sit on her lap, making him sit there so he didn't disappear like his sister had done a few minutes earlier, muting something about university and friends.

"We're thinking of enrolling him in the local school, we have quite come to like Cardiff and Rosa would like to finish her degree at university before we move back to Rakelion."

"I couldn't help but notice, but why is he wing-less?"

"Any child is until their coming of age."

Before long, Tosh and Tilia had a nice conversation going, Owen and Ianto keeping quiet, letting the ladies talk.

A bit of time passed by, before Lily and Lord Laurus came back, bearing presents.

"We're back, bearing presents, Owen, this one it to you, and this one it to you Ianto. Tosh, Lord Laurus have yours." She placed a pair of neatly wrapped boxes in at laps.

"I had Irene and Artemisia makes them for you." She watched as they each slowly unwrapped their presents, Owen getting though his first, lifting out what seemed like an undershirt.

"Extraordinary undershirts made to conceal your wings only when you want it. They are made especially to each of you, using a bit of your DNA to connect them to each of you, so you can control them by will. You can wear them under your normal cloth, and they will conceal your wings only when you'll want it. You'll need it for working with your next gift. Come, we have something to show you."


	6. A wish on a feather

_AN: As un-betaed and un-brit-picked as ever..._

_Disclaimer: do not own etc. etc. etc._

Stepping out in the rain, Lily opened her umbrella to shield herself from the typical Wales weather. Being in no hurry, she strolled across the Plass toward the Water Tower. Only a few were out in the rain, most of them hurrying over the Plass, only a few pairs walking slowly, most likely enjoying the privacy of the heavy rain. A bit of wind made it difficult to walk with the umbrella, but her strong hand kept it in place. Almost all too soon she reached the Water Tower to stand there waiting for...

"Captain Jack Harkness." She walked around the Water Tower to find Jack standing at the other side.

"Milady, Queen Lily of Rakelion. What gave me away?" He turned to face her, and she let herself study him for a second. He were smiling, but it' didn't reach his eyes. It were a nice-to-see-you-smile, polite, but not necessary true. He seemed older, still standing straight and as handsome as ever, but he couldn't hide the ageing in his eyes. She smiled at him, not the polite-smile, but it's-good-to-see-you-smile.

"Your 51th century pheromones, and honestly, you reek of time. Oh, and the sweet young girl over there..." She pointed at a girl a few meters behind her, talking to someone on her phone.

"... She can't get her eyes of you and is whispering something about 'a handsome man and his beautiful date' right at the moment." Lily grinned and stepped closer, shielding Jack from the rain.

"We might as well give her something to talk about." She whispered seductive, taking hold in his great coat and pulled him down for a brief kiss.

"Did she go away?" She didn't want to spoil her fun by turning around and see. She held her grip in his great coat, keeping him close.

"Did you want her to?" Jack smirked, more real this time. Lily pouted, she couldn't help it.

"I don't want my date interrupted by a dazed teenager." Jack raised an eyebrow, still smirking.

"Is this a date then?" Smirking, Lily released her grip, but kept standing close.

"Afraid not, I'm here on more... official business, but that have never stopped me from having a bit of fun. Now, is she gone?" Looking up, Jack had to shift a bit to the side to look around Lily's wings, which had now become visible to him.

"If you by gone means possible running from here, heavily blushing, you accomplished your mission." She threw on a full grin then, taking a step back and threw her umbrella into the air. Instantly, it disappeared, and it stopped raining.

"Good. Temporary rain shield and perception filter. Handy, but with you around, I'll have to make sure nobody is near us. People see you, Jack, and smell you. Really, Jack, can't you turn that down?" She took a few steps back.

"It's fine when we're outside, but in a concealed place like this it's really not as easy to ignore."

"Being lured in?" Jack smirked.

"No, sorry Jack, but it reeks. To me you reek of time and something incredible sweet. The most Angels would find it incredible seductive and alluring, but to me, it's just too much." Jack somehow managed to get a bigger smirk on.

"And you off course find this hilarious and highly entertaining since you can't do anything about it. Give me a minute to block it out." She sat down on the ground, which somehow had dried in the meantime. Pulling into herself, she found her sense centre and shut down her own sense of smell. Re-emerging from her centre, she found Jack sitting next to her on the ground. She looked at him, studying him again.

"How much time has passed, Jack?"

"Five years." He didn't look at her, but she could still see the lie clear as day.

"In earth time; correct, but how about your personal lifetime? 7 years? 10 years?"

"15 years." She turned back and looked up in the rain through the filter, seeing the rain disappear into the temporal time pocket formed by her.

"Are you done grieving for them then?" She asked, still keeping her eyes on the rain, but focusing on Jack.

"I never will be, for either of them." They didn't talk for some time. They sat silent under the filter, seeing the last bit of natural light disappear as the sun set. The rain started to clear up, and soon, multiple couples could be seen walking over the Plass, hand in hand. Lily looked at them, letting the silence last for a while, letting Jack grieve in peace for a bit.

"What do you know of my specie, Jack?" She kept her eyes on the people outside the filter, not really seeing them.

"An almost unknown species; nobody knows where you come from, nobody has ever been to Rakelion, but you all seem to be everywhere, there's no planet without an Angel. The best merchants are Angels, and I've never seen an unfaithful Angel."

"Ah, so you know." She rose up from the ground and turned to face him.

"An Angel can lie, but we chose not to. When an Angel first leaves Rakelion, it's taken on oath not to lie. We swear never to lie and never to talk about Rakelion. And I'm telling you this for one reason and one reason only: so you know I won't lie to you." She reached down, griped a hold in him and pulled him up, whispering in his ear:

"I have met every single of your loved, lost ones." She took a step back, giving a somewhat astonished Jack a look over.

"What? What did you expect me to say? Something dirty? Get your mind out of the gutter and focus your attention on this one." She took a leather-bound book with golden inscriptions in a, for Jack, unreadable language, up from a pocket and handled it to him.

"I had every one of them write you a note, heck; some of them almost wrote a novel. I know it can't compare to having them back alive, but I believe it's better than being left behind with nothing at all." He smiled a somewhat sad smile when he took the book, letting his fingers slide over the cover, not opening the book just yet.

"Oh, this is so not like you Jack. It's so wrong to see you all sad, Jack, I'm used to see you determined, happy, and most of all flirtatious. But Jack, I'm here to help you get you back of track. I've rebuild Torchwood for you. I've found you a sexy archivist, a technician with the sharpest mind ever seen and a brilliant doctor with knowledge of a veracity of aliens. They are the finest of the finest of all times." She had walked around him as she spoke, light steps, almost dancing. She took a stand behind him, keeping her back to his as she reached up and her umbrella reappeared and the filter dissolved, causing the water hidden in the time pocket to pour out, the umbrella keeping them dry.

"You'll find no team as sexy, sharp minded and brilliant as my old team." Jack said, almost whispering. Was he mad? Sad? Most likely furious.

"I know, Jack." She said soft, clicking her heel against the stone they stood on twice, ordering it to begin its round trip down to the Hub.

"I know Jack, so I helped them. This is my gift and my apology for you: a new Torchwood, with your old team." The invisible lift reached the floor of the Hub, the new Hub. It was bigger, the height of roof was almost the doublet of the previous, but the trip down took less time. There were three visible floors, one ground floor with the same design as the old Hub, but again with more space, and two balcony floors, unlike their lone one in the old Hub.

"Same design as the old one as you can see; with a few differentness. There are more vaults below, the archive has moved up to a balcony floor, and as you may have noticed: it's bigger on the inside. And more impotent: Jack, come and met your new team." She jumped down from the lift and made her way to the conference room where she had asked Ianto, Tosh and Owen to wait for her.

- Flashback-

Singing old songs, she leaded them down through the corridors, past the garage and down to the entrance, waiting for the cork prop door to open.

"I've had Lord Laurus rebuild it after the design of the old Hub, but made it Angel-friendly: more space for wings and even the possibility of flying freely. When I visited, I had time to make blueprints of the old Hub, and with Lord Laurus' inter-dimensions of matter skills, we redesigned it. They haven't touched the interior, nothing is wired up, but they brought in new, up-to-date technology. The archive is moved up in the lowest balcony floor, the autopsy bay enhanced with more equipment and monitors, there's a new medical bay and they've added more floors downstairs with more vaults and more... freezers." She pointed around as she mentioned the differences.

"Oh, and the garage have been enhanced as well, and they've brought in two SUV's. It seemed like a nice idea to have an extra." She had yet to look at her trainees. These were her gift for them, and Jack, but she had absolutely no idea how they would react. This was her original plan for them, but she had come to care more for them than she could ever have imaged. She felt alive again; after so many years of seeing and feeling so many passes by and passes away. She had somebody to care for, somebody to show her the beauty of the universe and of being alive. A small part of her didn't want to let them go, didn't want them to leave her side. She felt like a mother, seeing her always-to-young children leave their safe and secure home to chase their dreams. And that's when she realised: they had never been her trainees, they had been the children she never had been able to have. She had become their second mother, without even knowing it. Consumed in her own thoughts, she felt a pair of arms fold around her, hugging her close, slightly shaking. Focusing, she saw Tosh pressed against her, crying. She folded her arms around her, keeping her close.

"I'm sorry, is it too much Tosh? Is this not what you would want?" She felt a hand on her left shoulder, Ianto, and got a few pads on her right, Owen.

"Thank you! Oh thank you so much!" Tosh was crying, but she was smiling as well. She turned her head to look at Owen. No tears, just a smile, but she could swear she could see a bit extra water in his eyes. The turned her head to look at Ianto. No tears, not even a bit of extra water, but a smile, lightening up his entire face. She let out a breath, glad her gifts were accepted. She hugged Tosh a bit closer before releasing her again.

"Before I'll let you all loss on the equipment and the Hub, I'll like you all to come with me up to the conference room." Nodding, Ianto led the way, making their way up the stairs to the room. Lily sat down at the end of the table, the others taking a seat as well.

"I have a few things to say before letting you all loss on this world again. Firstly, something cleanly practical: a Torchwood Three team need it's Captain, so I'm bringing Jack in later in the evening, you all have until sunset to mentally prepare yourself. As I said, we've brought in the best of the best equipment, but none of it is wired in yet. Your old computers are here as well, but we haven't touched it, that's for all of you to take care of, and it'll be your first job as Torchwood Three. Secondly, I have a request to make. I would like to ask your permission to change your contracts from 'Trainees' contracts, to 'Child of' contracts. It'll give you all more freedom, and I would like to be able to call all of you my children, no matter how selfish it must sound." They looked at each other, sharing glances and nods.

"Lily, we would be honoured to call you our mother, but why would you do that for us?" Owen took the word.

"Well, it's a wish on a feather I guess." She said, trying to describe.

"A wish on a feather?" Ianto had never heard the phrase before.

"Well, it means a wish strong enough to waste a feather on. It's an old fairy tale, but never mind. I've finally found a wish honest enough for me to waste a feather on it. I've always longed for a family, for somebody to care for, but I've never found anybody worthy of it, never found somebody I could truest enough to love. I've had trainees' contracts before, often for some Rakelion related purpose, taking somebody under my wing to teach them everything they needed to become useful. I've never done it for a personal reason, and I would never have expected it affect me this much. Come to think of it, I've never told you about my contract. I've lost precious gifts and abilities for the sake of Rakelion and for the sake of the other species. I lost the ability to love and the gift of death, and the privacy of my name. For that, I were gifted with survival, burdened with the truth and cursed with the ability to kill my own kind. Because of that, I've never expected to find somebody to care for, and now that I've found something of a family, I'm selfish enough to want to keep it." Being who she was, she had always found it hard to truly trust somebody. Ever too often somebody had tried to use her, and somebody had even tried to dominate her, with their own demise to follow.

"Will you tell us about it some other time?" Tosh asked, feeling the story in the speech.

"I will, hopeful later in the evening when Jack has joined us. For now, we'll have to make ready." She reached into a pocket and retrieved her book of contracts.

"For this, there is no ceremony, I'll only ask of you to touch the book's cover with me." She placed the book with her hand on it, on the table and one by one Iantos, Toshs and Owens hand joined hers. Silently, she rewrote the contracts, releasing their names and gave them each new deals.

"Oh, I forgot. I can't give you back your choice of mate, but I can release the bond. Tosh, Owen, no big deal there, it's never really been a secret the two of you is made for the other. Ianto, yours do not even need saying, but here we go: Jack. There, done." She released the book and hugged Owen, the one being nearest.

"I'm now official the mother of three. And your new deals are rather easy to remember, because there aren't any. I've released your original names, and you will notice you'll all soon develop a personal force field. We'll take the rest later, for now we'll need the hub to be ready for the comeback of Torchwood Three!"

- End of flashback -

Lily sat at the edge of the roof of the tallest building near the Plass, looking up at the few stars which could be seen over an ever-light city such as Cardiff. The clouds had retired for the night, and only the faint taste of salt in the wind told of the location by the sea. After reuniting Jack with his team she had silently retreated, giving them peace to find together again and share their stories. She would have to go back at some point, she had some rather important information to each of them, but for now she would silently enjoy the silence of a busy city at midnight.

"Aren't you going to go back inside?" The simple flow of words surprised Lily, turning around to see Artemisia standing behind her, Irene in her arms. She stood up to greet them, but was halted when Artemisia sat down next to her at the roof edge. Looking closer at Irene, Lily realised she had was asleep.

"What are the two of you doing here in Cardiff?" Lily turned her attention back to the few stars.

"We felt the change and decided to come. Irene fell asleep when travelling across the North Sea." Artemisia answered while waking Irene from her slumber.

"Change?" She didn't see the stars, her focus elsewhere.

"For once, you did something selfish. The Rakelion opened her heart to somebody else, and every Angel felt it. It felt like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, it warmed us all, added a warmth we didn't knew we were missing." Lily turned to face Artemisia, alarmed.

"What changed in Rakelion?"

"I haven't been back yet, so I don't know." Lily signed and rose from her seat.

"I guess we have to go back and figure it out. Daisy would have some sort of log on it. Come on, we have to go tell ... my children... I'm still in a daze about that..." She jumped of the roof, soon to be followed by Artemisia, Irene still fast asleep.

They entered the hub to find the team standing in the main room, still chatting. Owen standing by Tosh, his hand resting at her waist, keeping her close, Jack and Ianto standing close enough to touch but still hesitating.

"Guys, I was planning on doing something grand tonight, but it has to wait, I have to return to Rakelion quite quickly, but I have a few practical things to tell you first. First, I'm sorry but we have to postpone the story-telling to another date, I'm in a hurry. Secondly, the rift has not gone dormant; it's going to restart its crazy pattern in a few weeks. Thirdly, I have a simple request: do not invite Gwen back on the team. She's a mother now and I would feel bad for her to be taken from her young child to soon. Anyway, she seems rather satisfied by her new job we provided for her. Forth: I haven't given you time for it yet, but I think somebody downstairs would love your help from getting out of her vault. I placed Myfanwy in a temporally time pocket when the Hub exploded, and she should be waking up now. Oh, and I think Janet is down there as well...

Fifth ... here, catch." She dug three set of keys from a pocket and tossed them to her children.

"Apartment keys. We Angels watch out for our own, so we've set up two apartments for you guys in a nearby building. The address in these:" yet another pocket, this time three thick envelopes.

"It's your finances, official papers; such as passports, driving licences etc. Oh, Jack, there's one for you as well." She gave him an envelope as well.

"Official papers as well. We've set you all up with bank accounts and, well you could call it pocket money, but there's more than enough. Anything else, anything else? Oh yes, Jack!" She turned to Jack whom seemed to be in a state between dazed and confused, and she realised she must have been speaking in a mixture of Rake-speak and English.

"Ah, ups, sorry Jack. Your, well should we call it your little living area, haven't been furniture yet, so you're going to have to sleep at Iantos place, I'm sure the two of you have plenty to talk about. And last but not least: Jack, please take good care of my children. Bye!" In a flash, she and Artemisia were gone. Jack, still a state between dazed and confused asked:

"Is she always like that?"

"Yes!" the clear answer came from the rest of the team.

Arriving back in Rakelion, in her garden to be precise, Lily took a deep breath, taking in the wonders of her world. And then, she realised the different. Spinning around to face Artemisia, she beamed at her.

"Artemisia my friend, I've found the difference. Irene." She pointed at Irene, and after half a second of disbelief Artemisia hugged the now awake Irene closer the ever, cheering.

"What? What?" Irene asked, dazed.

"Darling, you are the first none-Rakekind to visit Rakelion!" Celebrating with a hug and a kiss, Lily investigated the circumstances of this miracle.

"It's the mark. Can you see it Artemisia? The Mark is protecting her from being thrown out of Rakelion. Rakelion is as save as ever, when only the marked can enter." She beamed at them, and dragged them with her into her castle, to call everybody to the throne room, and broadcast the news to every Angel in every world.

-fin-

_AN2: …And that's it for now. I have a sequel written, but it will have to go through some pretty heavy editing before I even will consider putting it on … _


End file.
